Here is a beautifully restored 1967 Barracuda Fastback “Formula S” (F7 option code) with a 383 and console factory 4 speed with buckets, power steering, Sure Grip 8-3/4” rear, A/C and disc brakes. It is factory black interior with a factory (basecoat/ clearcoat equivalent) exterior color of GG-1 Dark Green Poly. It has a restored and functioning 150 mph speedometer with working trip odometer.
This car has been restored from the ground up and has plenty of factory options and upgrades throughout. It began its life as a 273 V8 4bbl four speed car with a 3.91 ratio 8-3/4” rear end in a Golden Metallic (ZZ1) color with black vinyl trim. It was built at the Hamtramck Plant in Detroit and shipped on December 02, 1966. It was sold at a dealership in Dallas, TX called Southwest Chrysler Plymouth, Inc. It has been fully documented from Chrysler Historical and I have the certificate and (somewhat blurry) IBM card for it as well, along with some factory photos from 1967. I got this car from a friend as a rolling chassis, no motor or trans, but mostly everything else was there.
The intent of this lengthy and costly restoration was to bring it as close as factory or factory available as possible, and have a little creature comfort as well. I wanted this to be like a rare “executive” owned vehicle- something a “big wig” at Chrysler would special order, and since it was close from the factory already, it didn’t need much more. I have enjoyed this car, and it has garnished several awards from local shows at every show it goes to. As much as it hurts me, I need to sell it as I am planning to buy another house and need the money. This will only go to a true enthusiast who has a love and appreciation for the extreme insane cost it takes to restore one of these. I really do not want deadbeats to even consider this, as I have personally taken great lengths to do this right. It still has some very minor items here and there to address, but it drives and runs wonderful and it starts right up. Even if it sits for a while in the garage, once fuel hits the carb, it doesn’t even need to be choked (I never connected the electric one on the Edelbrock carb since I didn’t want the wiring to show). It has never left me stranded and is absolutely stunning to look at in my honest opinion.
The following is a detailed description from the many months, hours, days and years this effort took. I can honestly say everything that can be had NEW or NOS has been meticulously sourced and installed on this car with the goal of having a professional quality, “unibody up” restoration. Even several parts of the sheet metal were carefully and correctly replaced to eliminate the usual problem areas on these cars. I have done several of these cars in various stages of restoration, and I never plan to race or alter them, just bring them back to their former glory, with some nice tweaks thrown in! The car took 2 trophies including “Sponsors Choice” and first in "A body restored" at the only all-Mopar show in the state- our club's Moparfest in 2014. ( 115 cars- all mopar). It also took top honors at the 2014 New Mexico State Fair (and second place in Mopar division at same show- our club sponsored a separate trophy class).
FIRST, the GOOD:
BODY: OVER $13K invested in the body and paint alone! The floors were solid, along with the trunk floor and doors, rockers and decklid/hoods/doors/jambs. The car was stripped own to bare metal over every square inch of body panel. The hinges have all been rebushed/rebuilt and doors aligned so no sags. It has all new quarter panels from Year One (bought back in 1995, so no Taiwanese junk- USA made!), new front and rear valances from AMD (authentic MOPAR resto part), new trunk extensions from AMD, and door jamb striker post reinforcement plates, all welded in professionally and seamed the correct way. There is no way of telling where the joints are- perfect in every way. All lines are crisp and aligned, and given the coats of Raderol and primer sealer, this car is perfectly straight. The paint is Sherwin Williams or PPG- not sure what they used, but it is their absolute best- and was applied to modern car specs and color sanded and buffed to a mirror finish- there should not be an issue with this paint. Some light buffing marks on the driver door bottom need to be addressed, but waxing will take of this. Before painting, the car interior, floors, trunk, roof inside and door innards were coated with Lizard Skin sound deadening and then heat control. New fuel tank and sending unit are in place. Windows all go up and down, seal just fine and no extreme wind noise to be heard.
CHROME/TRIM/ETC: All new of course. New bumpers front and rear, NOS bumper guards front and rear, professionally restored grilles and bezels from Parts Guru. See pics- unbelievable how pretty this is! New mirrors, both driver adjustable and pass. Side all new, plus new rearview. All new emblems are installed, including the 383-4 barrel ones, Formula S ones and the letters of course. All new lenses and chrome insert trim throughout, antenna, gaskets and taillight/reverse bezels round out the trim package, along with wheel opening moldings and chrome lockstrips. ALL NEW WEATHERSTRIP around all windows and in engine compartment and trunk from front to rear- the only one set not changed is the vent wing window gaskets and those are still very soft and pliable. 14” factory Mopar rallye wheels with cone centers and trim rings (original not repros!). BFG Radial T/A tires are new, with under 500 miles on them! Spare tire is even new!
INTERIOR: All new door panels, new steering wheel, chrome handles (inside and out), new door latches, armrests, bases, lock knobs, headliner, carpet, console carpet and multi-piece carpet set for fastback compartment. Seat covers and foam by Legendary- they were professionally installed by House of Covers here in ABQ. Some minor scratches on the metal seat backs, but have been re-dyed to look awesome. The console is complete, the ashtray and insert is original and pitted but the new slider door covers it just fine. Fully rebuilt A/C heater box with new heater core, flushed evaporator, new master vacuum control (so all buttons work nicely) and NOS heater valve. Buttons detailed to match NEW repro dash bezel and lenses. Instrument cluster has been gone through, cleaned, tested, and powered with new circuit boards! AM radio buttons, light and tuner works but unsure if it plays since I dint put a speaker back in it. All door tops, interior trim pieces around quarters and rear window and dash panel have been painted factory gloss black (dash is factory matte black, but has some minor chips in it below the ignition switch see-pics). There is even new A-pillar post moldings, new defroster vents, a new dash pad, and new windshield to stare out of. New headliner is in but it’s a little wrinkled.
ELECTRICAL:- every bit of wire is new or refurbished and tested. New Mopar Reproduction AGM (not acid inside!) battery with yellow caps are hooked to new reproduction cables for both polarities. All new relays throughout- even both flashers- for dependable operation. New front engine harness and rear taillight harness, plus a refurbished factory dash harness bought from a gentleman who specializes in dash harness restoration is in place. Every bulb is new. Every switch works (except the hazard switch is a little odd sometimes- it needs to be jiggled with to make the hazards come on). I converted to a variable speed wiper setup, and the wiper motor and switch is professionally detailed and restored- see pics. I packed and sealed up the pivot arms, so no wet feet. New headlight switch and brake light switch round this out.
A/C: now some will ask, how do you have factory air in a 383 car? Mopar didn’t do that! Well the answer took some research but I found out that the main reason they didn’t is because the RV2 compressor couldn’t mount under the stock hood with a 383 option. I figure if Schumacher managed power steering, I can figure out the A/C. Everything else fits perfectly- new condenser and lines and expansion valve/drier fill the bill perfectly and are mounted in stock locations. So I contacted Classic Auto Air and they sold me a compressor upgrade to a Sanden unit, it blows nice and cold!
ENGINE: To start, it has a 1969 383 big block with EVERYTIHNG new pan to carb, fully rebuilt, fully balanced, blueprinted and ready to go. I have all of the paper work on this with balance sheets, cam cards and parts lists with labor from Edwards. It is fitted with Keith Black 10:1 hypereutectic pistons and moly rings, Clevite bearings, new oil pump and driveshaft with new bushing, ARP rod, intake and head bolt package, all torqued to specs. The block was pressure tested, align honed, bored 040 over, and the crank is 10 under and polished/balanced. New brass freeze plugs and hardware all around. Ring gaps, bearing clearances and machine work all set by Edwards Engines here in ABQ ( it was a turn-key bolt together installation for me) . The heads were totally refurbished with hardened seats, new guides, new valves, new matching COMP springs, new seals and 3 angle valve job. Professionally assembled heads set to height and spring pressure. New COMP cams Xtreme energy cam and lifters (perfect street idle with plenty of vacuum and good sound- not choppy or lopey at all!), with true double roller timing chain set. Factory harmonic balancer and factory steel flywheel. Mopar Performance Chrome timing chain cover and water neck, Chrome Direct Connection valve covers, Mopar Performance Electronic Distributor and Orange Box, ACCEL 8mm wire set, and Edelbrock Performer intake and Edelbrock carb round out the package with a factory wrinkle finish un-silenced air cleaner. Schumacher tri-Y headers painted in flat black and HAVE BEEN MODIFIED to work with both the new mini starter that is installed and the factory 4 speed Z-bar setup. Exhaust is an Accurate Exhaust Ltd reproduction dual setup, with 2.5” pipes all the way out, and factory repro “crimped corner” mufflers and hangers- it has a beautiful mellow sound with no drone at all. Block is painted Mopar Performance factory Turquoise color for the correct period. I even have flame proof spark plug socks over each wire end- just to be safe since it’s a little tight in spots. Over $3k invested in the block and head machine work alone! New fuel pump and pushrod as well. A new factory reproduction 3 core brass radiator from Year One with a direct driven 7 blade factory fan and factory water pump housing and pump handle cooling needs. Obviously new belts, hoses and service items are all in place complete with a NAPA Gold oil filter. The motor was broken in at 2250 rpm for 20 minutes per COMP cams instructions complete with COMP additive, and has only seen about 200 miles since installed in car.
TRANS/CLUTCH: it has a factory A-833 23 spline 4 speed A body transmission FULLY REBUILT by United Transmissions here in ABQ. All new inside parts, complete with new brass synchro rings, rollers, bearings, gaskets, seals, snap rings, countershaft, etc have been carefully installed and checked. The housing was blasted and cleaned and painted a cast iron gray color. Even the reverse switch is brand new! The Clutch is an all new Centerforce Dual Friction 10.5 inch setup with Centerforce throw out bearing and a Mopar Performance conversion roller bearing for the pilot. Brewer’s performance provided the complete 4 speed package (minus the transmission and pedals) from pedal pushrod to NEW aluminum bellhousing to Z bar and pivot to clutch fork. ALL Linkages are brand new from them, including a NEW Hurst 4 speed shifter, rods and levers, spring clip set, hardware and even the console shifter handle! The rubber boots, both console and lower were from them as well. Every nut and screw to make this work was purchased new from Stephens Performance since the car was missing all of this. The console plate is a reproduction MANUAL shift plate and sits nicely next to the new reproduction glove box door and ashtray slider door, all detailed up in the factory console shell. The brackets were the only the thing left in this car to know it was set up originally like this- I added everything else to complete it.
DRIVELINE/REAREND: A brand new driveshaft was fabricated and balanced by a shop here in ABQ, with new weld on yokes and new u-joints front and rear. The rear end and axle housing is a 8-3/4” unit A-body factory setup- with a 489 case and a Sure Grip with 3.23 gears. The sure grip unit was rebuilt with Mopar Performance steels and clutches (Dana re-buildable cylindrical type unit, not Auburn cone style), all new bearings, seals, and crush sleeve eliminator were used for the rebuild, and checked out by a company here in ABQ. The axle housing was cleaned blasted and painted, along with backing plates and new hard to find 1-3/4”x 10” drums. Small bolt pattern axles with a new thrust button spacer and fresh bearings and seals round out the assembly, along with all new brake lines and flex lines correct for the housing. All new hardware, wheel cylinders, e-brake cables (from handle to wheels), springs and shoes were used for a flawless install. New shocks, u bolts, leaf springs, bushings and blasted/painted shackles and frame brackets were used to perfect the install.
BRAKES/FRONT END/STEERING: all new! A SSBC 4 piston disc brake setup with Manual disc brake master cylinder and SSBC prop valve was installed to retain the small bolt 14” Rally wheels and so it would match the bolt pattern of the rear axles. This is so close to the Kelsey Hayes setup-difference is you can actually find service parts on this! EVERY SINGLE brake line ( and 3/8” front to rear FUEL line) is new mild steel from Inline Tube and Right Stuff detailing. Every single service item has been replaced- shocks, ball joints, bushings, idler/pitman arms (correct for 67 pitman), tie rods, adjusting sleeves and even the torsion bars are all new. All hard suspension items like control arms have been bead blasted and painted black. The torsion bars are 1.00” diameter from Just Suspension, and only the torsion bar boots are the polygraphite versions (everything else is factory rubber as intended). The power steering box, which clears due to the Schumacher mounts, is a remanufactured unit from NAPA. I even replaced the steering “pot joint” with a Flaming River U-joint. The steering column even has new bearings, paint and turn signal switches- all rebuilt to spec. The cancel cam sometimes wont cancel the turn signals but all signal lights works just fine. All wheel aligned by MBS here in ABQ.
NOW FOR THE PROBLEMS (MINOR) :
•Gas gauges and temp gauges are funny on these cars- despite my best effort putting in a solid state voltage reducer, the best it shows is 7/8 full when tanked up. The tank and sending unit is new, but I think when the gauge mounted regulator was bypassed (the tab was bent away from the contact) it may have been knocked out of calibration. Also the temp gauge “implies” like it is getting warm like up to 2/3 to 3/4 on the range, but I have verified with an infrared thermometer it doesn’t get over 185 degrees (180 degree tstat installed). I only put premium in it and timing is set right so no detonation at all (we are also at 5280 ft altitude, so plan accordingly you sea level types!). I was planning on putting a set of Mopar aftermarket gauges in the glove box for a “stealth” look and to keep a modern eye on things, but I didn’t want to cut up the new glove box liner. You can test this and see it does not overheat in any way- I just think the gauges are a little “off”- they are over 48 years old.
•While I have extensive Chrysler Historical paperwork, a CLEAN and CLEAR State of NM Title for this car, someone did make off with the fender tag. I did the research so you can easily get one remade if you can contact Galen Govier or TrimTags.com etc to get one made. No worries- the VIN tag is clearly still in place at the door jamb, and other numbers like the SO number are imprinted in the radiator core support and on the trunk weather strip lip and match the car’s number on the certificate.
•While I have driven this car in and out of town in the desert here with no problems whatsoever, the gearing is, well, not really highway friendly. 3.23 gears, in my opinion, are not meant for cruising- they will leave two nice black marks on the pavement, but 75 mph is turning the motor over at about 3000-3200 rpm or so. I like my cruisers quiet, so a fifth gear would be nice- but Mopar never offered this so expect this! You CAN go the gear vendors route or the all new A-855 from Passon performance but pricey….
•The headliner, while new and no tears anywhere, is a little wrinkly in spots. The heat was supposed to take care of that, but it just didn’t seem to very well. As I said before, the weather strips are all new, so installing a new one isn’t hard since the windshield/rear glass ones are soft and a new one can be maneuvered over the spikes without removing the glass if you really had to replace it.
• The photos I took do not do this car justice. The color is hard to show correctly, but it is like a mirror on every surface. What you see are clouds, surrounding objects and trees- no flaws to be found. If you are in the ABQ metro area and would like to see the car, it will be by appointment only, and I do work during the week.
Overall this car is a trophy winning beauty- a 9.8 out of 10, only because nothing is perfect. It is 48 years old. I have been extremely honest with this listing as I want a good buyer to respond- no deadbeats. You would seriously be hard pressed to find something “new” to buy for this car- I have exhausted virtually every source in the country and placed what is available new on this. Yes this is crazy, as I have well over 40k in parts alone- maybe more, but I have plenty of detailed receipts to all of the big purchases and can easily prove this is the real deal. This car is worth it to any buyer.
"F7" option code meant specifically a Formula S option, which (according to several websites) included the Commando V8 engine, suspension upgrades, larger wheels and tires, special emblems, and a tachometer. This car has all of that. The "F7" comes from the fender tag designation of a "7" immediately below the capital "F" on the fender tag for 1967-1969. Since my fender tag is missing (see my description, all other id tags are in place), it does have this option, since I confirmed through my research at Chrysler Historical (the factory archives) and a copy of the original production IBM card as having this option from the factory. Some say this option also included better brakes (this has 4 piston discs) and a sure grip 8-3/4 (which this car has as well). The buyer will receive all of this documentation as proof, and should you want a fender tag reproduction it is easy to do with that certification. Yes the tach functions beautifully. It is a reproduction with electronic guts in it and has the correct dash and engine harnesses installed to make it work just fine with either electronic or points ignition ( the car has electronic ignition FYI). The exhaust is stunning and beautiful sounding- it is perhaps the best part about this car in my opinion, as it just sounds awesome without it being noisy or droning. It has a "tuned speedboat" sound at cruising speed and a mellow idle. 2.5" inches throughout will do that. Let me know if the picture link is not working.
This car is financed thru lightstream
Used Car Loan │ Used Auto Loan - LightStream and the balance owing to them will need to be paid to get lien release and rest of balance paid to me so basically two checks will need to be made out one to lightstream and one to me.
